Strictly live at Wembley: My night with the stars

JENNIFER SHELTON, Strictly Come Dancing aficionado and 'Strictly Shelton' blogger, fulfilled every dance fan's dream by taking a seat at Wembley Arena for Saturday night's live show. Here's all the goss from the dancefloor. . .

Last week I watched Strictly Come Dancing on my tiny laptop screen, catching up a couple of evenings later having missed the live Saturday show. This week, from the confines of my Girton bedroom I found myself transported, as if by some Strictly magic, to the vast glittering splendour of Wembley Arena itself for the live broadcast of their bigger-than-ever Children in Need show.

Suddenly, instead of whirling figures buffering on my MacBook, there was Flavia Cacaca limbering up, colt-like, just below us, waiting for the first group dance; there was Bruno Tonioli, posing and flourishing for the crowds as he and the other judges took their seats in front of the cameras, poised for their 6.30pm cue.

Around me, mums and daughters from all over the country (plus the odd dutiful husband/boyfriend) were taking their seats, chattering excitedly, and the stadium began to fill with a buzz that can only come from a live event. And that was only the start of it.

With two local heroes still in the runnings for Strictly Come Dancing champion 2012, this year’s show is proving a vintage year for us. We’ve got Bedfordshire’s Victoria Pendleton to cheer on, who seems to be slowly overcoming her nerves and delivering some promising routines with Brendan Cole, but it’s Louis Smith who looks most set to raise the glitterball for us, with his acrobatic routines and manly grace seeing him glide through the early weeks and positioning him amongst the favourites to win.

(On Friday someone placed a £10,000 bet on him to take the title – the highest Strictly bid they’ve ever had).

Last week, however, the Huntingdon-trained Olympian gymnast divided the judges with his waltz to Moon River; if Craig Revel Horwood kicked off again this week, I thought, I’ll have to pop down and have a word.

I don’t know if any of you spotted me – I was up and to the right of the judges. (I did wave…) I’ve been a Strictly fan since it began in 2004, and a few of you might have seen my Strictly Shelton blog two years ago. For fans like us, I urge you to apply for the ballot – seeing it live is just as spectacular as you’d imagine, and you get to see the fun bits behind the scenes.

I’d never realised how much went on off camera: it’s like being invited to the making-of. I took my mum (she LOVED it) and together we oohed at the lighting men climbing rope ladders up to their aerial seats, and ahhed as Victoria’s Team GB dress got tangled in some wires as they tested out the flying bike.

Darcey Bussell lost an earring (fun fact: she also brings her own sparkly cushion to sit on) and the whole rock ‘n’ roll group dance (pre-recorded) had to go for a second take – they teasingly blamed Brendan for going wrong.

There was an hour of tinkering before showtime, and as crew members raced around, ‘warm-up guy’ Stuart Holdham kept us entertained with jokes that put Bruce Forsyth’s to shame (to be fair, Brucie somehow seemed funnier live – maybe he does still have that showbiz aura after all). The show’s actually just as much for the live audience as it is for the audiences at home.

Then, just as we’d finished chuckling at a gag about Craig, Bruno and Len’s autobiographies which Stuart was propelling into the crowd, on walked Kylie Minogue, here to record her Locomotion routine for the results show. I had to give myself a little pinch.

Less impressive, however, was Girl's Aloud's performance of their dreadful new single, which was all big hair, short dresses (Spice Girls you ain't, I'm afraid), and shouty lyrics about girls running this show. Hmm.

Come 6.29pm, the atmosphere was electric. The judges were in position, the dancers were waiting in the wings, and Dave Arch was counting in his fabulous orchestra. The drums rolled. A voice announced: “And now, live from Wembley…” We cheered and whooped and we were off.

I thought Louis was fabulous. I reckon you probably did too – his American Smooth to Gold Digger, dressed like a 1930s New York construction worker from one of those black & white postcards of the Empire State Building, was so unusual and imaginitive; and the way they changed tempo half way through and led into the breakdancing routine was really funky. I loved it, but Len didn’t! He said it was too different: “A quickstep with lifts” – Phhh.

Luckily he still scored a 30 and stayed out of the bottom two come ‘Sunday’, when the audience votes were counted. (Since they film the Sunday results show on the Saturday night, we had take the ‘Strictly Oath’ not to text or tweet the outcome to the wider world. It’s a credit to the show, the loyalty it evokes, that every week thousands of fans keep schtum.)

Other dances were equally dazzling: though I’ve been suspicious of Denise Van Outen since she’s been in musicals before, her 1920s Egyptian-themed riot of a charleston was spectacular; Michael Vaughan’s Fred and Ginger number was breathtaking – I wanted to run and join in; and the emotion on Lisa Riley’s face having opened with an impressive 70s Carwash salsa said it all.

Accosting a few likely-looking audience members for quotes and reactions, I ended up stumbling upon Robin Windsor’s Auntie, the beaming Alison Windsor-Barlow.

“We were just saying how proud were are of him,” she told me, as I joined her and friend Sylvia Whalley, looking festive in their Pudsey boppers.

What do you think of all his open-shirted costumes?

“Well, he’s got a great body, so why not?”

Nice one, Auntie. . .

There were plenty of Louis fans too: one invisible admirer could be heard in a rare moment of lul huskily screaming “I LOVE YOU, LOUIS!”, and in the queue for a cuppa in the interval I met Rachel Birtwhistle and Liz Joyner, who shared my indignation at Len’s critical comments.

“We thought the dance was fantastic – really elegant,” said Rachel. “It was a nice mix of beauty and athletics.”

Luckily, Victoria too made it through to next week, ready to fly the flag for us once again. But I suppose it’ll be back to the laptop screen for me. . .

:: My favourite dances of the night:

:: If you're feeling inspired, read on for details of some local dance clubs we checked out. I tried the lindy hop myself and highly recommend giving it a go!